Knowing how to clean a gun after rain matters more in November than any other month. Deer and moose season means long wet days, snow melting on a cold barrel, and then a warm house where the gun sweats all over again. None of it takes long if you do it the same night. Here is what to do in the field, when you get home, and the next day.
How to clean a gun after rain or snow in the field
- Unload it before anything else.
- Shake out the water and wipe the metal with a dry cloth. An anti-rust wipe is better: it dries the steel and leaves a light coat of oil in one pass.
- Check the muzzle. If snow or mud got in, clear it before you fire, because a plugged barrel can burst. A strip of electrical tape over the muzzle keeps it clean, and you can shoot through it.
- Don’t leave a wet gun zipped in a soft case for the drive home. If it has to go in the case, open the case as soon as you are back.
Coming inside: stop the condensation
A cold gun carried into a warm house collects water fast. The warm indoor air touches steel that is colder than its dew point, and a film of water forms on every surface, inside the action and the bore too. You won’t always see it.
The fix is to let the gun warm up slowly inside its case. Bring it in cased and leave the case closed for a couple of hours, so the condensation forms on the outside of the case instead of on the gun. Then open it up and clean it as below. If the gun is going back out tomorrow into the same cold, some hunters leave it cased in a cool, secure spot overnight to skip the cycle. The storage rules apply wherever it sits.
How to clean a gun after rain at home, step by step
- Unload and check twice. Magazine out, chamber empty.
- Dry the outside. Towel off the metal and the stock, including the sling swivels and the underside of the barrel.
- Dry the bore. Run dry patches until they come out dry, then one lightly oiled patch. The BT 101 cleaning kit ($28.99) has the solvent, oil, brush and cloth.
- Dry the action. Open it, wipe the bolt or bolt carrier, and get the water out of the trigger area. Compressed air helps on a shotgun or a semi-auto.
- Oil the metal. A thin coat. The Silent Dry oil pen ($12.49) puts VCI oil exactly where you want it: screw heads, edges and anywhere the finish is worn.
- Dry the case. Open it up and let it dry away from the gun. A wet case will rust a dry gun.
- Back in the safe only when it is dry and at room temperature.
If you clean a gun after rain this way the same night, it takes 15 minutes. Leave it until the weekend and you may be removing rust instead.
Wood stocks, scopes and shotguns
Wood stocks trap water between the wood and the metal. If the gun got soaked and you are comfortable taking the action out of the stock, do it and let both dry overnight. A rifle that stays wet under the wood rusts where you can’t see it.
Scopes: blow the grit off before you wipe the lenses, then use a lens cloth. Leave the caps off until everything is dry.
Shotguns collect water in the receiver and under the forend. Take the forend off, dry everything, and put a drop of oil on the moving parts.
The next day
The morning after you clean a gun after rain, look it over in good light. Orange spots that wipe off with oil are surface rust caught early. Anything that doesn’t come off is covered in our guide to removing rust from a gun. Before the next hunt, run a dry patch to take the oil out of the bore, since an oily bore can throw the first shot. In deep cold, go easy on oil so the action doesn’t turn sluggish.
What you need to clean a gun after rain
- Silent Dry anti-rust wipes, $32.99. Keep a pack in the truck.
- Silent Dry oil pen, $12.49. Fits in a pocket.
- BT 101 cleaning kit, $28.99.
- A dehumidifier in the safe, because you will be putting away guns that were wet. The Hypercube Medium ($54.88) suits most safes.
- A VaporTack SilentDry in the chamber of any gun you won’t use for a while. Take it out before you load.
After the last hunt of the year, our end of season storage checklist takes it from there, and storing guns in a garage covers the coldest spot in the house.
Prices current as of November 2026.